The BFF Job
by themindofmine
Summary: The deeper they dig into the life of Eliot's old friend Kenna...the deeper they get into curruption and the politics of the man she was married to, the man she murdered and the man she loves...
1. Chapter 1

The BFF Job

Chapter One

Eliot looked out at the setting sun and sipped his beer. It was spring and the days were getting longer and he was missing home more and more. The knock didn't surprise him. He heard footsteps on the stairs. It was a woman. Light on her feet and about a hundred and thirty pounds. It wasn't Parker. She was silent as the night. And Sophie…well Sophie didn't do anything quiet. The knock was soft. Almost hesitant. Like she was making up her mind if she wanted to make her presents noticed or not. He didn't check the hall camera because he kind of liked the element of surprise. Setting his drink down he walked to the door and opened it.

"Long time no see cowboy." The woman smiled. Her brown eyes darker then he remembered. Her hair was a honey blond. Nothing like the sandy brown she had the last time he'd seen her.

"It has been a long time." She took a step forward and his arms opened automatically. He engulfed her in his arms and she closed her eyes. This was home. Eliot Spencer knew he was letting a wall down but for her…he'd move mountains.

0/0/0

(Flash Back)

He was nine when his sister brought home a waif of a girl home from school one day. She had been a little older then Jodi, maybe seven. She wore faded jeans and a t-shirt that was a size too small. The shoes she wore were just as ragged as the jeans. His mother took one look at her and decided she needed a little more love then she was getting at home. That was the day McKenna Hawks came into their lives. It took months for her to talk to anyone but Jodi. She was there every day after school and she would stay till dinner. Their mother tried to get her to stay and eat but those first few months she said thank you and headed down the road to the run down shack near the rail road tracks.

(Present)

McKenna was different. She was strong and confident. Not like the girl who left Kentucky ten years ago. But the warmth that he had always seen in her eyes was gone. No matter what life threw her back then she always had a sparkle in her eyes.

"What brings you to Boston?" He handed her a cup of coffee.

"Passing through. I stopped by the farm last week and Jodi gave me your address." She pulled out a box from her bag and handed it to him. "She wanted me to give you this." Eliot looked at the package. His sister was always sending him recipes from home as well as starter herbs for his garden.

"Does she forgive you?" He looked into her eyes. She could never lie to him. Even when they were kids.

"She knows why I left."

"Why did you leave Kenna?" He stood up. "You left her alone."

"Jodi knew why. You know why. I wasn't going to let her be taken down for my sins." There was a coldness in her voice. One he hadn't heard in a long time.

"We could have worked it out."

"Worked what out Eliot? I was sixteen. I made sure Jodi was safe and I ran as far and as fast as I could from that hell hole."

"I could have helped you." She laughed a cynical laugh.

"You were long gone and had your own demons chasing you. I solved my problem the only way I knew how." She stood up. "It was nice seeing you Eliot." As she headed for the door he stood.

"Killing him wasn't the answer Kenna." She turned and looked at the man who as a boy made her world a better place.

"If I hadn't Jodi would have been killed and me along with her." Grabbing her bag she headed out the door. Parker was coming in as she went out. Eliot knew better then to go after her because she would be gone before he made it to the door.

"Who was that?" Parker watched the emotions play on Eliot's face.

"An Old friend." He looked at the blond woman standing inside his door. "Did you need something?" She handed him a beer.

"What to talk about it?" He shook his head.

"Will you leave me alone if I do?" She smiled.

"Only if you don't leave anything out." Eliot took a swig of his beer and sat down on the sofa. Parker sat next to him and crossed her legs under her.

"My sister brought McKenna home from school when she was about seven. Jodi brought home strays all the time but that was the first human one she'd taken under her wing. My mom and Jodi dotted over her like she was a new puppy. I was all of nine and though she was just another mouth to feed but she never asked for anything. Some days I knew she must have been hungry but she would never stay for dinner."

"Did she live nearby?"

"About a mile or so down the road. I really didn't know much about her till she'd been hanging around about six months. My mom ran into her mother at the drug store. Mom said the woman was a mess and that she wasn't fit to raise Kenna let alone the five brothers' and sister's she had. That was the start of a friendship that lasted through thick and thin. Jodi and Kenna did everything together. My mom started insisting that first summer that Kenna stay till after dinner. Then me and Jodi would walk her home." Eliot looked at his beer. "I was twelve the first time I saw what she had to deal with." Parker could hear the strain in his voice.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He looked at his friend. For the first time in a long time he did want to tell someone about that night.

"Jodi stayed home because she had fallen off her horse earlier that day and my mom told her she had to take it easy. Kenna said she could walk herself but it was getting dark and I didn't want her to run into a rattler or something worse. It was later then we normally headed out because of Jodi's accident. My mom would of told Kenna to stay but it was Saturday and church was a big thing with us and Kenna…well Kenna and God weren't seeing eye to eye around that time." Parker smiled. She might like this Kenna person if she got to know her.

"Been there." Eliot looked at her and smiled.

"Kenna was the youngest at the time. We got about a hundred yards from the house and she stopped. I was standing close enough to her that I felt the goose bumps on her arm. Then I heard the yelling. I looked up to see a man dragging Kenna's sister Kelsey out the door. He was screaming that he paid for her and he was going to have her. I looked at Kenna and back at the house. If her mom was pimping out her twelve year old sister what was saying she wasn't doing it to Kenna." Eliot stood and looked out the big bay window. "I took her hand and nearly dragged her back to our place and I sat her down in the barn and made her tell me everything."

"Was she getting abused too?"

"Not like the others. But it wouldn't be long. That night I started showing her how to protect herself. I told my mom that Kenna needed to stay with us for a few days. When her mom came looking for her I told her I knew what she was doing to her kids and she wasn't going to do it to Kenna."

"How did that go over?"

"Kenna spent the whole summer with us and most of the next seven years. She would go home for a few days now and then but she'd come back. I think she missed her brother's and sister's. Then one day after I had been gone from home for about two years Kenna up and left. She was just shy of seventeen."

"She didn't tell your sister where she was going?" Eliot looked at Parker and took a deep breath.

"Kenna pulled Jodi out of a bar in Lexington. One of Kenna's mother's boyfriends came after them. They made it to the county line when he finally caught up to them. He had a gun. Kenna had a knife…and with the skills I taught her over the years she killed him just before he was going to shoot my sister." Parker gasped. She hadn't been expecting that. "Now you know all about McKenna Hawks." He put down his beer and headed to his room. Alone was all he wanted to be right and he knew Parker wouldn't leave him so he shut his door and hoped she'd get the hint.

o/o/

I hope this is something you'll want to read. As usual I don't own anything but my own characters.


	2. Chapter 2

The BFF Job

Chapter Two

Eliot stepped into Nate's apartment. Parker and Hardison had their heads together at the bar looking at something on the computer. Nate sat with a cup of coffee on the sofa. He didn't like when the room was quiet when he walked in.

"What are you three up to?" He went to the coffee pot. No one said anything. "Really people, I'm not in the mood." Parker looked at him. He was defiantly not in the mood.

"I asked Hardison to look into some things for your friend." Her voice was just above a whisper.

"Parker I told you about her in confidence." She looked at him with her soulful eyes.

"She's hurting Eliot. Anyone could see that. She came to ask for help." She turned the screen to him and he saw McKenna. Sitting at McRoy's with a drink in front of her.

"She's in trouble?" Eliot looked at Hardison.

"Her husband was a cop. NYPD. She's a paramedic. Last week he was killed in the line of duty. It was all well and good until they pulled his files. It showed years of corruption. Long before they were married. They suspended her with pay until they could work things out but it doesn't look good."

"How can they suspend her when she's not even involved?"

"Whoever set up her husband made sure she was implicated?" Eliot looked at the computer screen."

"How do we know he was set up?" Nate stood and looked at the three people in his kitchen. Hardison looked at his boss.

"Not even the dirtiest cop leaves a trail this big." Eliot was out the door before anyone said another word.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0

"How deep?" McKenna looked up from her drink.

"What?"

"How deep are you in this thing with your husband?" She ran her hand though her hair.

"Jimmy was so clean he squeaked. He wasn't the best cop on the beat but he tried. Something happen about a month before he died. His temperament changed. He wasn't the man I married." Eliot sat down. "I think he found out about my past." She looked at him with soulful eyes. "I found the file when I went though his things in his closet." Pulling a file from her bag, she handed it to him. He opened the file. It was full of articles on the murder of Simon LaForce ten years ago.

"There is no way he could of know it was you." Eliot had made sure of that. He had cleaned up the mess before it had a chance of implicating Jodi or Kenna.

"Someone found out. Eliot I live everyday knowing that I killed a man. A man that raped and beat my mother and my sisters and nearly killed my best friend. It doesn't make it any easier but I know that I did what I had to do. I should have walked right into the sheriff's station that night and turned myself in but you know what the department was like back then. I would have been sent to a work camp for twenty years without parole."

"So you hid all these years and made a good life. Never told a soul. The only ones who knew were me, you and Jodi. Then along came someone to blow it all. Who would want to hurt you like that?" Eliot stared her down. She could do a lot of things but lying to him wasn't one of them. "Who else knew about Simon Kenna?"

"My mother." She whispered. Eliot swore under his breath. Joelle Hawks was about as trustworthy as a fox in a hen house.

"Who told her?"

"Simon." Eliot brows furrowed into a frown.

"How did a dead man tell your mother who killed him?" Kenna pulled a picture out of the file and there was a crime scene photo. The one that Joelle had been shown the night Simon died. Next to him was the knife that killed him. The knife that he had given her before he ran off. Pearl handled and silver glistening from the flash of the camera.

"Only two people knew I carried that knife everywhere. You and her. I trust you a hell of a lot more then I trust her."

"Why would she wait ten years to expose you?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I really don't care about Jimmy or what he did or didn't do. I just want to get out from under this investigation before I lose what's left of my life Eliot."

"You didn't love your husband?" Kenna looked down at her drink. She never really loved much in her life. The Spencer's had shown her the only love she'd ever really known.

"Jimmy wasn't like the other men I'd known. He was soft spoken and hard to read. He…intrieged me when we met. He was complicated and simple all at the same time." She swallowed hard. "He was there when I needed someone and I guess I got caught up in a dream I had." She laughed. "You and Jodi were the only ones who knew the real me. I lost you both because of a stupid choice." Eliot took her hand.

"You never lost us Kenna. We're still here. I'm still here." She looked up at him. His eyes had always soothed her pain away and tonight wasn't any different.

"Jodi said you were different now. That life had made you hard. I don't see that."

"Just wait. He'll be back." She smiled. Eliot Spencer had been her hero for a very long time and now she needed him to be that hero again. Just one time for old time sake.

"Thank you for coming to find me." He looked at her sheepishly.

"You can thank my friends." He pointed up to the camera in the corner. "They wouldn't let you get too far till we talked." Kenna smiled.

"I'm glad you have such nosey friends." Eliot shook his head.

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

/o/o/o/o/

Eliot opened Nate's door and ushered Kenna in. Three of the four members of his team sat on the couch. Hardison and Nate stood.

"Kenna Hawks, Hardison, Nate and Parker. Ahh…Sophie is doing some recon so she'll be here later." McKenna shook the teams hand and smiled a small smile. She was glad Eliot found somewhere to belong.

"So how much did Eliot tell you about my past?" Parker mumbled everything and the others said nothing. She sat on the chair facing them.

"I was four the first time I remember my mother bringing home a man other then my father. I was the youngest of six kids. My sister's were fourteen, twelve and eight. I heard things no child should here when she brought dates home. My sister's cried for hours after they left." Curling her legs under her, she felt Eliot's hand on her shoulder. "I knew I was safe till I was twelve. Mom never let them touch her girls before then. I met Jodi, Eliot's sister when I was in the second grade. She was in the first grade but we ate lunch together and we became great friends." Eliot remembered the waif of a child she was.

"She looked so sad the day Jodi brought her home. I thought she would fall over with a stiff wind."

"My mother never really cared where I was or who I was with so the next few years I spent every waking hour at the Spencer's. The three of us spent a lot of time in that old barn." She looked at Eliot. She would never tell them why the barn became their haven. Holly Spencer was an angle. The men she dated were devil spawned. "Then one night when I was ten Elliot brought me home and found out what my mother was doing to my sisters. He took me back home and I never really went back to my mother's house after that. Eliot taught me a lot about taking care of myself if any of those men tried to have me"

"Wasn't there anyone you could call? Child Welfare or something?" Parker asked. Eliot looked at his quiet side kick. He could tell that she related to the story being told. She might never admit it but he could tell. They were all a little bit broken.

"It was a small town. The gossip was bad enough but if we got taken away I'm sure mom's boyfriends would come after us. "Eliot had gone and got her a cup of coffee and handed it to her. "Thanks."

"We found out later that one of her 'dates' was the local sheriff. He would have buried things so deep no one would have found out the truth." Eliot was back at Kenna's side.

"We were wild back then. Eliot and Jodi's mother tried but she had her own life and the three of us together…well we were a force." She smiled. Her southern drawl coming out just a little. "I was sixteen. Eliot had left Kentucky for greener pastures and me and Jodi…well we got wilder. I didn't like feeling out of control so I never drank more than a beer or two but sometimes…" She stopped. Looking at Eliot to see if she could go on.

"You can tell them."

"Jodi would disappear for days. Her mom tried to get her some help but…Eliot leaving left us both a little out of sorts. One night she called me from Lexington and asked me to come get her. I didn't have a car and it was nearly forty miles but I hitched a ride and got there just as a man was picking Jodi up off the floor. I knew he dated my mother. He had taken advantage of my both my sisters who were still at home. He took one look at me and dropped Jodi. I never let him catch me home in all the years he'd been lurking around. I picked up Jodi and found her mom's keys and headed out." Kenna swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"We kind of know the rest if you feel you can't go one." Nate looked at Kenna and Eliot.

"No. It's been too many years without being said out loud. The car broke down about six miles from the Spencer's. Jodi and I took the back fields and tried to get home but Simon cut us off. He had Jodi pinned and he had his gun out. I only had the knife Eliot had given me for my last birthday. I stabbed him in the neck and he bled out before he could even turn around to fire at me. Jodi and I ran home as fast as we could. I made sure she was safe and I called Eliot and told him what happened. I left Kentucky that night and never looked back."

"Did you clean it up?" Nate looked at Eliot.

"I did what I had to do. Simon LaForce was a predator. I found out later he was wanted for statutory rape in six counties in Kentucky and the whole state of Tennessee was looking to hang the son of a bitch. Kenna did the world a favor."

"So now how does this tie into your problems with the NYPD." Kenna liked Nate. He pulled no punches. He got to the point.

"The Jimmy I knew wasn't corrupt. He got a file of the murder a few weeks before he died and I think he was looking into it. But my future lies in the hands of the Internal Affairs department. They've found nothing but a few files of old cases that might have been tampered with but other than that there is no paper trial. No money in overseas accounts."

"Yet they froze everything?"

"Everything that was in both our names, which wasn't much. He never asked why but I think he knew that sharing scared me. He never pushed for us to go ahead with buying a house or any big investments. We paid our bills and put the rest in savings. I had a few things in my name that was considered my run money. I don't think he knew about that till he got the file on Simon's murder."

"Run money?" Parker asked.

"If I needed a fast getaway it was there."

"Did he…hurt you?" The anger was apparent in Eliot's voice.

"No. He never touched me. But I had to make sure I had an out. You taught me that." Eliot, Jodi and Kenna had practically raised each other. He taught them to stand up and fight and they taught him compassion. It was a good trade. She watched her back even now. "I just want to clear my name. If I have to do the time for Simon I will but I wasn't involved in anything Jimmy is being accused of." Hardison had pulled up all the files on Jimmy McClain.

"According to these reports he had his hand in a whole lot of pots. Murder, drugs, extortion. If it was wrong he got caught doing it so to speak." Kenna stood and looked at the screens in front of her. It had all the charges, files and things they had on Jimmy. "They found more. When I left they just had the one bribery charge and some petty corruption charges." Shaking her head she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why him. Why now."

"That's what we're going to find out for you." Eliot came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Kenna I promise we'll figure this out." He hopped that he could keep this promise because he never quite forgave himself for breaking the last promise he had made to her.

(FLASHBACK)

_The moon was full and the sky glistened with stars. He just turned sixteen and he had to get out of this town. The place was smothering him. Jodi had taken it hard and he knew Kenna wouldn't take it any better. She was fourteen and he knew she was going to be a heartbreaker. It was breaking his heart to tell her that he had to go but in the end it was the best for all of them. He would make a better life and send for them for them later._

"_You look sad cowboy." Kenna sat next to him on the barn roof._

"_I have to get out of this place kid. I know I promised you I'd wait but I just can't take it anymore." The look on her face nearly did him in but she took a deep breath and smiled._

"_I know. I met the latest and greatest last night. I figured it wouldn't be long and you would have to go." She took his hand and held it. "Just be safe and make the right choices." He laughed. He had told her that not too long ago when she said she liked a boy in her math class._

"_You and Jodi stay in school and when I get settled I will come for the both of you." Kenna smiled. Eliot needed to worry more about him and less about them but he would never just leave them._

"_You go and make your mark on this world and don't worry about us." Eliot knew that she was going to play it tuff like she always did._

"_I promise…I will come back for you." Kenna squeezed his hand and closed her eyes and wished the best for her friend._

_(Present Day)_

_Kenna was curled up on his couch as he put coffee on the next morning._ Parker was sitting on the bar stool. He never asked how or why she was there but she seemed to know he needed to talk to someone.

"How's she doing?"

"Better than I expected."

"How about you?"

"I don't know what to feel." He handed her a cup of coffee. "She always brought out something in me I was afraid of."

"You're afraid of her?" Parker giggled. Eliot looked at her. He threw a towel at her and started breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

The BFF Job

Chapter Three

Kenna woke up to the smell of coffee. She wasn't a morning person and she never had been. Eliot had always been a night owl too. She wanted to know what changed.

"How'd you sleep?" She was startled to see Parker at the end of the couch.

"Fine." Sitting up she saw Eliot at the stove.

"Parker, did you wake her up?"

"I didn't. She quit snoring ten minutes ago." Kenna smiled.

"I was getting up." Putting her feet under her she watched Eliot.

"Did he always like to cook?" Parker asked.

"He took Home Ec because the teacher had double ds." Eliot shook his head but didn't turn around.

"It's always about the double ds." Parker replied

"I can hear you." He said with a little laugh.

.

"Some things never change." Kenna liked Parker a lot. She was like a brilliant child and she seemed to bring out something in Eliot that might of gotten lost after he left Kentucky.

"Do you two ever sleep?" She asked looking to Eliot then to Parker.

"Sleeps over rated." They both said at the same time. Kenna saw something in them that she had missed since Eliot had gone away that summer so many years ago. The feeling of belonging. Of a friendship that could never be explained to anyone but each other. That's what they had so many years ago. It was something she wanted back. She wondered if Eliot had room for another lost soul.

"Thanks again for everything you guys are doing for me. When they started investigating Jimmy I didn't really have a clue what to do. I called Jodi. She told me to come home." Eliot turned from the stove and looked at his old friend.

"How is my baby sister?" He put eggs on three plates and grabbed some toast out of the oven.

"Good. She's still seeing Charlie from the garage."

"He's good to her?" Kenna saw the flash of worry across his face and then it was gone.

"Best man in the county." She answered.

"Breakfast ladies." Kenna and Parker went to the table and the three of them sat down to eat.

"_Eliot, I need you at Nat's." _Hardison said though the earpiece Eliot hadn't removed from his ear after an early morning recon.

"You guys finish up." Eliot got up. "I'll be right back." He shot Parker a look that didn't get passed Kenna. He left his breakfast and the two women and headed across the hall.

"Does he always just take off like that?" Kenna asked.

"Now and then." Was all Parker said.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/

"What do you have?" Eliot charged into Nate's apartment.

"You're not going to like it." Hardison answered.

"Yeah well give it to me any way."

"Seems Detective James McCain had a few secrets not even IAD found." Eliot looked at the picture on the screens in front of him. It was Kenna's husband with another woman and three kids.

"So he was married before."

"This picture was taken six weeks ago. Right before his death." Eliot looked at Hardison. "Yeah, I thought you'd be pissed." Some more files appeared on the screen. "He had a whole other life on Staten Island. Kids, wife, a mortgage."

"That's why he kept things with Kenna the way he did. He had another family to support." How was that possible in this day and age Eliot didn't know. "If Kenna was…how did…does the department know about this?"

"It looks like they just might and that's why they started the investigation."

"Then why didn't they tell me about the other woman?" Kenna had come in and no one had heard her. Eliot stood up.

"Kenna…" He reached for her but she shrugged him off.

"Why haven't they told me about her?"

"That's what we need to find out." Nate came from his bedroom. "There is a reason why they aren't telling you about her so we to need to know if she knows about you." Kenna looked at the older man.

"How do we do that?"

"It's all about the insurance." Nate knew it all when it came to down to it all that matter was they payout in the end. Eliot looked at the older man and then back at Kenna.

"They never said anything to you that this might be because he had another family?" She shook her head. "Kenna this isn't your fault." She looked at him. Her eyes blazing.

"I'm smarter than this Eliot. How did I not see this?" She walked to the window and watched the snow falling over the city. "I need to know how much more was kept from me."

"We're already on it." Hardison said as he typed in a few more things. Eliot came up behind Kenna. He didn't touch her but he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"If he wasn't already dead, I would kill the bastard." She smiled and leaned back, closing her eyes.

"One dead body between us is enough." Laughing he took her in his arms and Kenna felt safe for the first time in years.

o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/

Parker packed light no matter where she was going. It was easier that way. She sat in Eliot living room waiting on Kenna to come back from Nate's. It was the first time she had been alone in Eliot's apartment in a long time. She never really noticed its sparse decorations and it unhomey feeling.

"Why are you lurking in my apartment?" Eliot stood by his bedroom door.

"I'm not lurking."

"It sure looks like lurking."

"I'm waiting. Not lurking." Eliot looked at his friend.

"Okay, your waiting."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She hasn't been okay since Simon tried to kill her and Jodi." He leaned against the wall. "I should have taken them both out of there after that."

"You didn't know what was going to happen." He shook his head.

"I knew something would happen sooner or later. If it wasn't Simon it would have been something else. I was the one person they could depend on and I blew it."

"You had to. That place…you said it was bad."

"It was bad for all of us." Again Kenna snuck up on them. "He came back when we needed him the most." She grabbed her bag and headed back down the hall. "Nate said it's time to go." Parker looked at the older woman and knew that there was more between her and her friend then anyone would ever know.

"Maybe we should stop talking about this when she's not in the room." Parker looked Eliot.

"Maybe." Grabbing his bag they all headed out to the airport.

0'/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

New York was more beautiful than ever when the snow was falling. Sophie was meeting them at the hotel in a few hours. Till then Nate was going to make a visit to the other widow McClain. Kenna took Parker and Eliot to what was left of her apartment she had shared with Jimmy. It was torn up from the living to the back bedroom.

"Not the best at putting things back where they found them are they?"

"Everything that links me to him is gone Eliot. Pictures, papers…all gone." He looked around the small apartment.

"How about your lease?"

"Jimmy had the place before we got married. We never got around to putting me on the lease." There was a knock. Eliot stopped Kenna from going to the door. He went and opened it. Standing in the hall was a little old man.

"Miss Kenna…I'm sorry. They…they had a warrant."

"It's okay Charlie. I knew they were coming."

"I know this is a bad time Miss Kenna…the rent…it was never paid and Mr. Jimmy never put you on the lease…" Kenna looked at the old man.

"I'll be out by then end of the week Charlie."

"I'm sorry again." He nodded and left. Eliot closed the door.

"They haven't got to the old man yet. He can prove you lived here."

"He can prove I lived here, not that I was married to the man." Kenna went into the bedroom and tried to sort out what was left of her life. Parker watched her go and started to say something but Eliot put his hand up.

"Just keep your mouth shut and we stay out of trouble." Parker smiled and started cleaning up the mess in the living room."

O/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o

Nate stood in front of a large two story brick house. Hardison was in the van down the block.

"_Isn't it protocol for a squad to be parked outside a fall officer's house till the funeral?" Nate asked Hardison._

"_It's been a week. Maybe he's done been buried."_

"_In all those files did we see anything on the funeral arrangements?"_

"_Just a whole lot of pending." Nate knocked on the door. A pretty brunette woman answered the door._

"Hello. Nate Gunderson from the insurance company that represents the police department."

"Hello."

"Mrs. James McClain I presume."

"That would be me."

"I'm sorry for you loss. The department and our company will do everything in its power to see that this goes as smoothly as possible."

"My loss?"

"Your husband James." She glared at him.

"James? Jimmy isn't dead. He's in the back mowing the lawn."

"_I didn't see that one coming." Hardison said in Nate's ear._

"I'm sorry; there must have been a mix up in the paper work. So sorry to have bothered you." Nate turned and headed back toward the van. _"Get us out of here now." _Hardison met him at the curb and they headed to the hotel.

"Now what?"

"It seems the NYPD has a few secrets."

"Nate you know as well as I do they have a whole lot of secrets but this one is the one we need to work on."

"Let's get everyone up to speed on this and see what we can do to solve our little dilemma."

"And don't forget we have to keep Eliot from killing the not so dead Detective McClain."

"Please don't remind me." Nate leaned back and closed his eyes. This was going to be way harder then he imagined.

o/o/o/o/o/

I hope your still reading….thanks if you still are


	4. Chapter 4

The BFF Job

Chapter Four

Eliot watched as Kenna packed up her belongings in the two bags on the bed. She was worse than him when it came to traveling light. He leaned against the door frame and remembered the night he left. She had watched him pack his bags and she held back the tears. Eliot knew she wanted to cry now too. Even after ten years the spark between them was still there.

"You always did like to stand back and watch." She looked up from the boots she threw in her bag.

"You were always so interesting to watch." Kenna smiled. "Nate is going to meet us at the hotel."

"Did he talk to Jimmy's…wife?"

"Yeah. He said he'd fill us in when we got there. Are you almost ready?" Picking up a picture she handed it to Eliot.

"I think you should have this." She said as she zipped the last of her bags. He looked at the picture. It was of Jodi, Kenna and a boy about eight. A boy that looked a lot like he did nearly twenty years ago.

"Kyle." He smiled. "He's gotten so big."

"He misses his uncle Eliot." Kenna took her bags off the bed. "When this is over you should try and make it to see them." Eliot looked up at her.

"She hasn't forgiven me. Not like you have."

"There was never anything to forgive Eliot. You had to get out before he killed you." Heading out of the room she turned back to him. "You stayed longer then you had to for us and for that we both hope you can forgive us." Eliot watched her go down the hall. Taking the picture he put it in his shirt pocket and followed behind her.

O/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/

"Hell no!" Hardison looked from Sophie to Nate. "I will not tell that man that his friends' husband is alive and kicking. Did you not hear him tell her that if he wasn't dead already he was gonna kill him." The young man shook his head. "Hell no."

"Maybe we shouldn't open with that." Sophie said. "Maybe something less…stressful."

"Like what. 'The woman seemed nice. She's not at all worried about the life insurance…because Jimmy is alive." Nate took a drink from the glass he was holding. "We just need to get it out on the table. Hardison did you find out what the hell is going on with IAD and this whole mess. I mean if she was PD I would have an idea but she's FD." The sound of footsteps in the hall stopped Nate from going any further. Eliot stepped into the room followed by Parker and Kenna.

"They trashed the place. Whatever the as…Jimmy did is pissing off a lot of people." Eliot said as he threw Kenna's bags on the bed. He looked at the strained faces of the three other members of his crew. "What the hell went on with his widow…I mean his other…whatever?" He turned to Nate.

"Eliot…promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"The last time you asked me to do that Sterling was standing behind me." Eliot knew that James Sterling wasn't behind him but whatever Nate was about to tell him was just as bad or maybe even worse. "Nate…"

"James McClain isn't dead." Kenna looked at Nate.

"Jimmy isn't dead?" She asked.

"Alive and well and living on Stanton Island with his first wife and kids." Nate replied so fast Eliot wasn't sure he heard him right.

"Alive! The bastards alive?" Eliot shouted. He looked at Nate then to Kenna. Not waiting for anyone else to tell him differently he turned to head out the door but Kenna put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks.

"Then why?" She looked at Nate, then Hardison. "Why is this all happening to me?"

"Think back Kenna…have you had some hinky calls…calls you can't explain? Calls to the same address or the same kind of calls in a neighborhood." Nate questioned. She closed her eyes but never took her hand off of the hitters shoulder. Tilting her head to the side she sqinted a bit and then opened them.

"Back about a month ago we had a series of hit and runs. A bike messenger, a street vendor, a doctor getting coffee at a lunch wagon….about a half a dozen in all. No one saw the car so PD just filed them away. But one vic…a school teacher from the Bronx got a partial plate. That was two weeks ago. Right before Jimmy di…disappeared out of my life."

"Did you file the report?"

"No, a Detective Mann took her statement. I never met him before that day even though he worked with Jimmy. I should of realized something was up then. He thought my name was Sarah and I was a nurse." She shook her head and let her hand slide down into Eliot's like she had done it a hundred times before. "It's not worth it." She whispered and squeezed his hand. Parker couldn't believe that this woman had so much power over Eliot.

"I will beat the son of a bitch within a inch of his life." He said under his breath.

"Your not going to take the fall for my ignorance a second time Eliot." She looked at Nate. "If these hit and runs were connected and that plate number let them to somebody of interest do you think that would make them come after me?"

"We need to see what happened to the witness. What about your partner?" Nate answered.

"Dean got transferred about three weeks….damn." She shook her head. "It's all coming together. Whoever is involved with the hit and runs is one who's making all this happen. They found out about Jimmy having two wives when they tried to get me to keep quiet." Nate nodded. This girl was no dummy.

"This must run deeper than we ever thought possible." Nate answered. "The whole thing was just a cover up and McClain's little bigamy scam just got caught up. They paid him off and sent him back to the island and left you hanging. How did they explain not having the big NYPD send off?"

"Crooked cops don't get a hero's funeral." She had run to Kentucky and hadn't looked back. It seemed like her whole life she had been running. She was done with that. Kenna would stand up this time and fight. She knew that Eliot and his crew would stand behind whatever decision she would make. "I want to clean this up and get the hell out of this town." Eliot squeezed her hand.

"We got the mops." Eliot said. Kenna smiled.

"Do ever get tired of cleaning up after me Spencer?"

"What's a little spilled blood between friends." Eliot saw the spark of the girl she used to be. The girl he had cherished and loved for more years then he cared to remember.

"Let's get some rest and get to work on this in the morning." Nate looked at Eliot. "You guys stay here. Catch up." In a mere second the room had cleared of the four other people leaving Eliot and Kenna alone…holding hands.

"I hate when they do that." Eliot pulled Kenna to the bed and sat her down. "We'll work this thing out McKenna."

"I have no doubt in my mind that this will be the last time you pull my ass out of the fire." Eliot smiled.

"Promises, promises." He sat next to her and they both laid down and looked at the ceiling. "What else haven't you been telling me?"

"I'm an RN but I chose to be an EMT because I would rather save lives then coddle sick people. When I left Kentucky I swore I would never set foot back there again and I've been looking over my shoulder hoping you'd come after me even after ten years." Eliot looked at his friend. "Now you."

"I have to have a light on to sleep. I know how to say 'Stop or I'll kill you' in seventeen different languages and I can field strip sniper rifle in six point three seconds." Kenna smiled.

"You always knew how to impress a girl." She laid her head on his shoulder. "You should call Jodi when this is over. "

"We talk Kenna. More then you would think."

"Does she know about your…retrieval specialist job?"

"She knows what she wants to know Kenna. You know that's how things are between us."

"Yeah. Like you never asked who Kyle's father is?"

"I know he's got the best mother a kid could ask for. I don't need to know all the gory details. I let her down Kenna and she has every right to hate me but she doesn't. Yet I go to visit her knowing she hasn't forgiven me. I do what I can."

"I know." Kenna said as her eyes grew heavy. "I know you had to go. Before you…" He kissed the top of her head as her eyes closed.

"I did something crazy like fall in love." He whispered. Sleep overtook him before he could get up and move to the other bed. That's where Parker found them an hour later. She didn't want to wake either of them up. Eliot looked almost…harmless with the blond woman curled up in his arms. Smiling she went to the other bed and laid down hoping they could solve this quickly and that Kenna would stay in their lives. She like Eliot when she was around. Closing her eyes Parker fell into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

BFF Job

Chapter Five

Kenna woke up like she did yesterday, with Parker watching her. Sitting up she looked for Eliot.

"He went for coffee." Parker answered without her saying a word.

"How did you sleep?" Kenna decided that she should get to know the people closest to Eliot now.

"I don't sleep much."

"I gathered."

"What about you?"

"Yeah…not too bad."

"Can I ask you something?" Parker asked her new…associate? Friend?

"Sure. The worse I can do is not answer, right?"

"Right." Parker smiled. "We're you and Eliot…you know…dating before he left Kentucky." Kenna laughed.

"Parker, me and Eliot…"

"No Parker, we never dated." Eliot came into the room and slammed the door. "We did a lot of things but dating was not one of them." He answered gruffly. Throwing her a pint of milk, a box of cereal , and a spoon as he set down the coffee in his hand.

"Don't sound so happy about." Kenna smiled at him when he handed her a cup a coffee.

"You wouldn't like me happy darlin'. It's not my style." Parker was amazed at the banter between the two old friends.

"You could handle me Spencer." Kenna took a sip of her coffee. "You remembered." He looked at her.

"Something's just stick in your head." Parker opened her cereal and watched the two silently.

"Admit it Eliot…I'm always in your head." He pursed his lips they way he always did when he knew that what someone was saying was right. Turning to his own coffee Eliot took a deep breath.

"Nate said they have something. We need to get going on this before everything goes south." Parker got up and took her cereal next door leaving Eliot and Kenna alone.

"I'll be gone as soon as this is over Eliot." He turned and looked at her.

"Yeah, you and I are really good at gone." He said. "Pro's even."

"Guess we can thank our daddies for that." Standing up she grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom. "I'll be out in a few minutes.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

The screen came to life in front of the six people in the room.

"Okay this is what I got from everything I got from the NYPD and Jimmy McClain's records." Hardison stood. "He's been on and off the cities payroll for about twenty years. Stints in rehab and family medical leave fill in the missing time he wasn't working. I looked up those hit and run reports and he didn't work any of them. The last one with the witness was never filed so I looked up that detective." A picture flashed up on the screen. "Detective Jackson Mann. Been on the force fourteen years. He's what's known as a closer. If a case can't be solved, they bring in Mann and he close's it. He's found over a dozen needles in haystacks. Unsolvable crimes are his game."

"I never met him. I just saw him at the scene that day. He looked at me and asked me what the woman had told me. We exchanged a few words and that was it. He never even asked me my name. That's when I told him if he needed to get a hold of me he could reach me though Jimmy. He said…you must be Mary. I thought you were a nurse….he just turned and left." Kenna crossed her arms over her chest like she done a million times before. It was a way she protected herself.

"So maybe Mann went to Jimmy…said 'Hey I met your wife today' and then things went south from there." Nate said as he watched Kenna start to pace.

"Someone finding out about Kenna wasn't the trigger though." Eliot added.

"No something else. Jimmy isn't involved. Other than a whole lot of dept Jimmy's clean. His bigamy messed up someone else's party." Hardison pushed another button. "This guy." An older man appeared on the screen. "Deputy Chief Samson 'Spike' Delaplant. I ran the hit and run dates to every electronic datebook the NYPD. They guy had a meeting within a ten block radius within three hours of the accidents."

"So this is a cover up for a big police muckity muck?" Parker asked from the corner.

"That's what it looks like." Hardison answers. Nate looked at his crew and the young woman that he knew meant the world to his hitter.

"Okay then." Nate stood. "We need to find out what other extracurricular activities this guy is into and find out why keeping Kenna quiet the way he did was necessary." The wheels were turning in Nate's head. Eliot could almost see them. "Kenna I think you need to visit your husband. Maybe he's got an idea why you took the fall for this." Nate said. "Eliot, take her to see Jimmy." He looked at the rest of the team. "The rest of us will figure out our next step." Eliot nodded and grabbed his jacket and lead Kenna out to the truck.

o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o

"How are you holding up?" Eliot asked when they got on the toll way.

"Better than I thought I would." She smiled. "Thank you for being here for me Eliot."

"You know I'm always here for you McKenna."

"I'm sorry I wasn't the same kind of friend." She looked at him. "I know what you've been though. I wish I could say I understand why you didn't call me.

"You were working on your own life."

"I wouldn't have a life if it wasn't for you Eliot." Kenna curled her legs under her like she did as a child. "You gave me a life. Why wouldn't you let me help get yours back on track?"

"Does it look like I don't have a life? I have a job and friends."

"You think this is a life? Being the muscle for thieves and hackers is not a life." He shook his head.

"You never complained when I was your muscle."

"You never had to. You wanted to."

"What makes you think I don't want to be the muscle for Nate and the others?"

"Do you?"

"We do good things for good people Kenna." She knew he was right. Parker had filled her in on some of the jobs they had done over the years. She wanted to make sure Eliot was happy with the way his life was going.

"That's all I wanted to hear Eliot. That you are happy." He was as happy as he could be with what he had been though in his life. Someday when he was comfortable in his own skin again he might tell Kenna what he'd seen and done over the years but not now. Not yet. They were quiet till they pulled up in front of Jimmy McClain's other life.

"You don't have to do this Kenna. I can go in there and take care of things for you." Eliot looked at the house.

"If you go in there by yourself Eliot I will visit you in jail the next time I'm in town." She got out and headed toward the house. Eliot followed a few feet behind. Kenna rang the bell. A tall brunette opened the door. "Hello…is Jimmy home?" She said a lot calmer then she felt.

"Yes, he is. You are?"

"A friend. I was in the neighborhood and I thought I would drop in." The older woman looked Kenna up and down.

"Do you work with Jim?" The woman asked.

"Paramedic. We worked a case a few months back."

"He's in the garage out back." Kenna nodded and turned going back down the steps followed by Eliot. They went around the house and the sound of an old Styx song wavered from around the corner. Jimmy was under the hood of a classic mustang.

"Give the word and I'll slam that hood down so hard he won't wake up for a week." Eliot whispered in her ear. Kenna smiled.

"Let's see what he has to say first." Eliot frowned but turned his earpiece on so the others could hear the conversation between Kenna and her so called husband. "Jimmy?" The man looked up and saw who was calling his name.

"Kenna." He looked at her. "I thought you were dead." Eliot looked at the man…then at Kenna.

"They told me you were dead too." Kenna answered.

"Who's your friend?"

"Jodie's brother Eliot. He was in town. Though he'd kill a bigamist just for fun. You're lucky I talked him out of it." Eliot smirked. He liked the sassy Kenna.

"I didn't know what they had going. They told me that hit and run driver took you out. They said they were keeping it quiet because they couldn't catch them."

"Your 'wife' dies and you don't even question it?" Eliot growled under his breath.

"They said you were…a killer. That you killed a man when you were a kid. They thought it was someone coming for revenge."

"Who the hell is 'they'?" Kenna stood with her arms crossed. She was pissed. He could tell by the look in her eye that the guy had about five minutes before she blew.

"IAD. The brass said it was…cold blooded and that…I should run and not look back." Then her fists were balled up; her feet were planted in a fighter's stance.

"So you threw me under the bus? Did you ever love me? Or did you just marry me because Sarah got tired of your bull shit?" He looked scared. The man was a twenty year police vet and he looked scared of the woman standing in front of him. The knife was out of her boot and Jimmy was up against the work bench before Eliot had a chance to take another breath.

"KENNA!" Eliot was fast but Kenna was faster. The knife was up against the cop's throat. "McKenna Shane Hawks back the hell off now!"

"Eliot_ get her out of there now." Nate yelled in the hitter's ear._

"_What the hell do you thing I'm doing?" He yelled back. _"Baby give me the knife." He whispered.

"You're the one who wanted to kill the bastard." She turned and looked at him. Her brown eyes were full of fire. A fire he'd never seen before. "I'm just saving you the trouble."

"Darlin' you know I'm up to torturing the son of a bitch till he's nothing but a pile of shit but it won't clear your name. That's what we're he for, remember?" He looked at the man who was about an inch from wetting himself. "Let's get what we can from him and get the hell out of here. We'll leave him to his wife." Kenna turned to see Sarah McClain standing near the garage door.

"Why did you let me hang?"

"To save my marriage." She took a deep breath and stood straight up. Eliot sighed in relief. Kenna lifted her leg and replaced the knife.

"_It's under control Nate." Eliot said._

"_Let's keep it that way." Nate replied._

"I'm sorry Sarah." Kenna looked at the woman just before her knee cam up and hit Jimmy solidly between the legs. She turned back to Eliot and headed to the car.

"Remind not to piss you off." He followed behind her. "_We're headed back". Eliot said to Nate._

"_Damage control?"_

"_Let's just say McClain won't be walking upright for a very long time." _

/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o

"What the hell were you thinking back there?" Eliot shouted at Kenna as they drove down the highway.

"I just wanted him to tell me why." She whispered.

"Kenna I know that this has been hard on you but if you want our help you have to keep that temper of yours in check."

"You used to like my temper." Kenna answered, not looking at him.

"Yeah well you're a little old for temper tantrums to be cute anymore." Eliot growled out. "I should have taken you over my knee a long time ago girl."

"Gotta love when your big brother mentality comes to the surface."

"You've seen what my big brother mentality can do so maybe you might want to back the attitude off a few degrees."

_Back at the hotel the four other members of the Leverage crew were listing to the banter between Eliot and Kenna._

"_Do you think they were always like this?" Hardison asked the others._

"_They were just kids back then." Nate returned. "They didn't have what they have now."_

"_What's different?" Parker asked._

"_Chemistry!' The other three answered in unison._

"_Shut up, all of you!" Eliot screamed as he switched off his ear bud._

_**I hope you still like this. I do my best but sometimes it's just for myself! Again I own nothing but Kenna.**_


	6. Chapter 6

The BFF Job

Chapter Six

Kenna sat in the window seat of the hotel room. It was a rotten spring day and it didn't look like it was going to get any better. A steaming cup appeared in front of her face and she looked up to see Parker with a crooked smile.

"It's Hot Chocolate. Made with milk." Kenna took the cup from the young thief and smiled.

"Thanks Parker." The woman sat down in the small space that was left on the seat and compacted herself to a fairly comfortable looking position.

"Eliot made me my first cup of hot chocolate." Parker answered off handedly.

"I believe he made me my first cup too." Kenna returned. This made Parker smile.

"I think he thinks it will solve all your problems."

"I do believe your right." Kenna said as she looked into the cup. There were six mini marshmallows in it. Exactly the way Eliot used to make it for her.

"Why do make Eliot so angry on purpose?" Parker asked innocently.

"I guess it's because I can." Kenna answered and took a sip of her coco.

"Why would you want to? I mean when he's angry it's…scary. I've seen him fight his way out of a building full of bad guys and the rage that builds up in him…sometimes I feel like if we weren't there at the end of the day…" Kenna looked at Parker. The younger woman didn't like seeing the side of Eliot that he needed to do his job. Kenna understood that. But she had also known how to contain that side of the man she knew.

"I know he would never hurt me. He's yelled, screamed, thrown things, broken things, all in because I pissed him off but at the end of the day I know the boy I grew up with would never hurt me." Kenna looked up to see Eliot in the door way."Just be there for him at the end of the day Parker and don't ever be afraid to give the big lug a hug once in a while. Even the hardest of hitters can't resist a hug now and then." Kenna smiled. Eliot cleared his throat.

"Parker, Nate needs you." He said as he put his emotions in check. The petite thief stood up and bounded to the doorway. She stopped in front of him and with all the love in her sneaky little heart she hugged him. She didn't even notice how stiff Eliot stood or the exasperated look on his face. She just hugged him for all she was worth and bounded off to find her boss. "You really shouldn't encourage her."

"She worries about you. I think she's afraid all your pent up anger will cause you to combust one of these days." Kenna looked into his piercing blue eyes. "She likes that you make her hot chocolate."

"She likes anything she doesn't have to make herself. Why do you think she lives on cereal?"

"I think that's about all she had when she was a kid. It was the easiest thing to steal and store." Kenna answered. "You and I have been there."

"We had our best times sitting in the barn eating Fruit Loops." He smiled. God she missed his smile. And the way he stood behind you and touched the small of your back for encouragement when he knew you needed it the most. Or when he held you close and waited for your sobs to die down so you could hear his soothing words. Kenna felt a shiver go down her spine. She wasn't fourteen anymore and Eliot…he wasn't that boy.

"It's going to take the rest of the day to set up the mark. I thought maybe you might like to take a walk. "He knew what it was like to be caged and he knew Kenna was no better at it then he was. Unfolding herself from the window seat she slipped on her boots and grabbed her jacket. Eliot grabbed his and headed for the door. He checked the hall before they headed to the elevator.

"I feel like we should be checking around every corner like when we were little and played cops and robbers." She put both hands together and made a gun, holding it up by her cheek she quickly checked the next corner before giving Eliot the all clear. He had to laugh.

"I distinctly recall you and my baby sister wanted to play Dukes of Hazard. You would fight over who got to be Daisy." Kenna had forgotten about that. They both got in trouble for cutting their shorts to short.

"Those were the days." They got to the elevator and Eliot pressed the button.

"Have you heard anything from your family?" Eliot asked.

"Well you know mom had another batch of kids after I left." She sounded so bitter. "All the deserving people in the world who would love to have a child and she had fourteen she didn't give a damn about." The elevator opened and they got into the empty car.

"Did any of your brothers or sisters make it out?"

"I found that keeping my distance from the people who never gave me anything but nightmares was easier than I thought. I go back now and then to see Jodi and Kyle. I ran into my mother a few months ago. She barley said three words to me. She had a baby on her him and two in the cart." Eliot resisted the urge to put his arm around her. He couldn't risk getting close to anyone let alone his old friend.

"She was pretty messed up."

"More then we will ever know." The door opened and they stepped out of the elevator and headed out the door.

"How about the park?" Central Park was three blocks over and Eliot needed the fresh air to clear his head.

"Yeah. Remember we always talked about coming here and going to a Broadway show and go to a Nix game at Madison Square Garden."

"You wanted to take the Greyhound out here when you were twelve. It took all I had to convince you to wait." Eliot had to drag her back from the bus station kicking and screaming. Kenna laughed.

"I was kind of a brat."

"Kind of?" Eliot answered.

"Okay, I was a brat." They walked to the entrance of the park. It was busy for the middle of the day but all Kenna knew was the two of them.

"Where did you go that night?" She didn't have to tell him. He knew everything she did after that fateful night but he wanted to hear it in her own words.

"I took a bus as far as my run money could get me. Denver." Kenna took a deep breath. "I waitressed worked a factory job for a little while. I went to Aspen for the winter and made enough cash to go to Seattle for the summer. I end up joining the Army for college money."

"The Army?" Eliot smiled. "I knew I didn't teach you all those moves you used back at Jimmy's."

"Yeah well you taught me how to survive Eliot. I would have never made it though those first few years if you hadn't taught me how to take care of myself. And that no one had the right to push me around, no matter whom they were." She wrapped her arm around his and leaned on his shoulder. "You taught me that my life was worth living."

"You brought me back from the edge more than once Kenna. I guess that makes us even." They walked again in silence. They had always been comfortable with each other but the years apart had been hard on both of them.

"I know life wasn't easy for you after you left either. Do the others know about the things you've seen?" She felt him tense.

"Parker knows some. Nate knows more. Sophie has a way of making me open up when I don't even know I'm doing it. I never told them about you…about us because that was something that was mine alone. You were always there. In my mind." He chuckled. "Haunting me." Neither one of them would mention the night they had spent together. The night before he left Kentucky. She had been afraid that without him there to protect her one of her mother's boyfriends would take her innocents. So she had given it to him.

"I never meant to do that."

"Darlin' I know. I just want you to know you were never very far from my thoughts. And that if I seem a little on edge it's because I need to know you'll do everything in your power to stay safe until we get this thing cleared up."

"I promise." She would promise him the world if it meant the haunting look he had would stay away. He would get that way after the beatings he took from his step father and it hurt her to be the cause of that look now. Kenna saw some of the tension leave just then but she knew until Eliot knew that she was safe it would always be there.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

"If this deputy chief has a hard on for Kenna, what's stopping him from just snatching her up?" Hardison asked Nate who was standing behind him.

"He needs her for something or he wouldn't have gone out on a limb like this. He can't think that she was stupid enough to think the death of a cop, dirty or otherwise, would go without notice."

"She skipped town the day after the dirty files appeared. That can't look good for her."

"That's what's bothering me the most." Nate looked at the files on the screen in front of him. "Something isn't adding up."

"_That's because she must have seen or done something she doesn't even know about." Eliot said in Nate's ear._

"_What brought you to that conclusion?"_

"_The fact that the hotel is surround by cops and they're headed your way. You have two minutes to clear out."_

"_Get some place safe and we'll meet up." Nate said as he and Hardison started packing._

_The team scatted and Kenna hopped that she didn't bring a world of trouble on Eliot and his friends._

o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/

Short but sweet….I'm getting it all together now.


	7. Chapter 7

The BFF Job

Chapter Seven

Eliot pulled Kenna against the building. They were in big trouble and they both knew it. The police cars had rolled up on hotel when they were little more than a block away. Lucky thing Eliot was prepared for this or they might have gotten caught in the shuffle going in.

"You get to the truck and you haul ass out of here. Hardison will text you on that cell phone he gave you so you can meet up with the rest of the team."

"I'm not going anywhere without out you Eliot." He glared at her.

"Now is not the time Kenna." He shoved the keys to the truck into her hand. "NOW GO!" She looked at him and his eyes were cold as ice. Pausing a split second she touched his cheek but then she turned and headed toward the parking ramp a block away. Eliot turned to head the opposite direction but two detectives stood in front of him. He knew right then that Jimmy McClain was more involved in his 'death' then he lead them to believe. "Hey." He said to them. He hated taking out a good cop but if these two were working with McClain they weren't that good.

"Where's the woman?" Eliot shrugged his shoulders.

"This is New York. I'm sure you can find a nice girl." The man swung first. His fist meeting air as Eliot shifted his weight. With a few swift hits to the solar plexus and the head the first man was down. The second took a bit longer. He had to add a roundhouse kick and slam the man against the brick wall before he fell to Eliot's feet. The sound of screeching tires made him look up. Kenna was at the entrance of the ally the passenger door open. "Kenna!"

"Come Eliot step it up. We have to get out of here." Eliot looked around but no one else was there. He got into the truck and before he got the door closed Kenna was careening down the street away from the cop infested motel.

"What part of haul ass out of here did you not get?" Eliot said between clenched teeth.

"One thing that you and the Army taught me was never leave a man behind." She said. Her driving skills were close enough to suicidal to make Eliot hang on for dear life. "You would have come back for me." She said quietly. He looked at her. He knew she was right. He would have come back this time.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

Kenna finally stopped at the pier. She just stopped the truck and got out. Her feet hit the ground and her knees nearly buckled beneath her but she walked. Putting her hands into her pockets she walked to the water. Eliot watched her. She was angry now. He could tell by the way she held her shoulder back. She paced the shore for a few minutes before Eliot left the truck to join her.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Twenty years of friendship and that's the first time you apologized for yelling at me when I deserved it."

"I did tell you to haul ass."

"I did. I just hauled it back to pick you up." He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't ever do that to me again." He hugged her close. He knew that he shouldn't but it had been too long since either of them had felt anything more the rage and hate. That's why she fell so hard for Jimmy. She clung to him in hopes that the emptiness inside her would finally leave. But she knew that it would still be there once Eliot and she had gone their separate ways.

"We should check in." Kenna whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah." Eliot pushed her away and grabbed his phone. They needed to solve this thing quick, before he forgot the reason why it was bad to fall your sister's best friend.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

"Eliot and Kenna are on their way." Hardison told Nate. They were held up at an old garage near the docks. "He sounded more…irritated than usual."

"He gets that way when he's over his head." Nate answered. Parker looked at her boss.

"Eliot's in over his head? That can't happen."

"It always happens when a woman is involved." Nate said looking at Sophie. She smiled.

"A woman changes everything." The door opened and Eliot came in, followed by Kenna. They both looked cold and miserable.

"I'll get the hot chocolate." Parker said as she bounded off the counter she was sitting on.

"I want to know what the hell is going on and I want to know now." Eliot growled at Hardison.

"I'm looking up everything I can. There isn't much about the NYPD I don't know. I know that Jimmy McClain was under the command of Delaplant for a lot of years on and off. They were partners when they were rookies and though the years Delaplant moved up in the ranks and McClain didn't." Hardison looked at his computer screen. "This guy is the head of all things police related. The benevolence fund, the local VFW, anything with the word police in the title he's involved." Eliot ran his hand over his face.

"Dig deeper. They think Kenna knows or saw something. Those cops today weren't just on a routine bust. They were gunning for bear." He looked at Kenna. She was shutting down. Her hair was damp from the sleet falling outside. Parker handed her a cup of hot chocolate. Shaking his head he looked at Nate. "My best bet is to get her the hell out of here till things settle down." Eliot took a deep breath. "Kentucky's out of the question."

"How about back to Boston? We can work the con from here and if we need you we can call you in."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Drive. I don't want risk you getting nabbed at the airport."

"I don't want to leave you hanging man. If this goes south you may need me to pull you out." He looked at Kenna.

"We can do this. Just keep her safe." Eliot looked at Parker sitting next to Kenna. She had a strange look on her face.

"What's up with the crazy chick?" He asked Nate.

"I think she likes Kenna." Eliot smiled. "I don't think Parker would forgive you if you let something happen to her." Nate leaned back against the counter. "Just take her back to Boston and keep her safe."

"Okay." Eliot grabbed his bag and Kenna's. "Come on darlin' were blowing this pop stand." Kenna stood. Parker watched the older woman intently as she followed Eliot out.

"Nate, she's not okay." Parker turned to her boss.

"Eliot will take care of her." He answered. She looked at him, confused. "Eliot can handle it Parker."

"He can handle thugs and bombs but those need…rough…Kenna needs…not rough." Nate looked at the petite thief.

"You know Eliot. He can be…not rough when he wants to be. You've been witness to it." Parker knew Nate was right but she still wasn't sure that Eliot could protect Kenna from the demons that were haunting her.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

Kenna sat across the seat with her legs curled under her. She hadn't said a word since they left the city. He knew he wasn't going to make it to Boston tonight. The roads were getting slicker by the minute and he didn't want to risk going off the road.

"I'm going to stop in Hartford for the night. I can't risk putting us in the ditch."

"Okay." She said quietly.

"Talk to me Kenna. I need to know you're okay."

"My husband was married to another woman and now he'd trying to arrest me for something I don't even know I did. I'm as far from okay as I was the night I stabbed Simon." He knew she was lashing out in good reason. His phone ringing stopped him from consoling her the best he could.

"Yeah."

"The super at Kenna's turned up dead." Nate told him.

"Son of a bitch. Okay. I'm almost to Hartford. We'll spend the night and head back down there."

"You're better off as far away from this as possible right now. If anyone saw the three of you in that building yesterday it could mean disaster if you come back here."

"We'll stay in Hartford. If you need me I'm only two hours away."

"Sounds good. Someplace low key."

"Like you have to tell me that." Eliot hung up the phone. "The super is dead."

"Nothing like sugar coating it Spencer." Kenna laughed.

"You know me. Rip the band aid off, lesson the sting."

"This isn't going to be pretty is it Eliot?"

"You know I won't lie to you."

"That's all I ever asked from you." They gave each other an understanding look and Eliot pulled into the next cheap hotel they came to. Eliot got out and was back five minutes later.

"You want the good news first?" He looked at her. She nodded. "There was a room. One room."

"It's not like we haven't shared a room."

"Not the honeymoon suite." He pulled around the building and in front of the room. "I can sleep in the truck." Kenna looked at him.

"Do you really think that I would let you sleep in the truck?" She looked at the door of the room. "Seven." Kenna whispered.

"It was a long time ago Kenna."

"It was the last thing we shared before Simon made you think differently of me."

"I never thought that the whole thing was anything more then you protecting yourself and my little sister from a rapist."

"A rapist that could have been my father Eliot."

"No one ever confirmed that."

"No one ever denied it either. He could have fathered me and at least three of my brothers and sisters. In all honesty he was the one man my mother kept around the longest. The one man who betrayed her the most."

"All men are not like Simon LaForce. Not all men are betrayers and users."

"Then why out of all the men in the world I pick the one man who has a wife and a kids and a whole lot of other baggage. You were the only other man I let get that close to me and you left. Now this. I can't take much more Eliot. I don't know who I can trust anymore." He knew the promise he made to her back when they were kids was weighing heavy between them.

"I'm sorry I let you down Kenna. If I could take it back, I would." She looked at him.

"You made a choice Eliot. I can't say I understand because I thought I meant more to you then that but I know you did it because you thought you had to." She grabbed her bag and got out of the truck. Eliot looked out the windshield and bit his lower lip. They needed to fight this out now and clear the air so they could put their past to rest and clean up Kenna's future. He got out and went to the door and unlocked it. He let her in and slammed the door.

"Why don't we get it all out Kenna…tell me how it's my fault your life sucked. Let's not blame your old lady or the string of men she paraded though your house at all hours of the day and night. Let's blame the one of the two people who did the best he could to protect you as long as he could. I did come back for you and I cleaned up a mess that you made. I did my best and that's all I could do." She looked at him.

"I know. I know that the job you had took you to places and made you do things that no man should be made to do. I know that you did your best to take me and Jodie out of that place. I just want you to tell me why you didn't look for me once you came home." He looked at her. He had found her. Found her happy and safe in New York, with friends and co workers who respected her. How could he walk back into their lives knowing the things he had done? Knowing the people he had hurt all in the name of a government he was having trouble in believing in now. Knowing that there were people in a half dozen places that wanted him dead.

"We paid for our mama's sins Kenna. We both had to walk away from our lives back then and darlin' if I regret anything in my life it's loosing what we had. Losing out on what could have been."

"Then why didn't you come back for it?" He looked at her and turned away running his hand though his hair.

"You said you knew what I had been through. Sweetheart you can't even to imagine the things I've seen and done."

"Then tell me Eliot. Tell me what you did that was so bad you couldn't come home." She crossed her arms over her chest. He didn't have to turn around to know what she had done because that's what she did when she wanted him to explain himself.

"Do you know where Myanmar is?"

"Burma. It's in Indonesia."

"And it's run by the State Peace and Development Council. But it's anything but peaceful." Eliot watched the snow fall. "I had to retrieve some documents from the embassy before they locked it down. I didn't do it quietly or peacefully." He turned and looked at her. Kenna saw the look on his face. She'd seen it too many times in the past. "There's a price on my head. That's not the only government power that wants to see me dead Kenna. How can I ask you or Jodi to bear that burden with me?"

"Last I heard the Myanmar government was the epitnemy of evil. They were charged with crimes against humanity."

"You don't get it. I'm not a safe person to be around." He turned back to the window and leaned both hands against the chair. "I'm no good for anyone." Eliot felt her warmth before he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Nate and the others think you're good for them."

"That's because I pull their asses out of the fire most every day." He felt her arms go around his waist. Kenna laid her chin on his shoulder. "Darlin' you're playing with fire." He whispered. She took a deep breath.

"I never did like the safe side of the sidewalk." She answered, kissing his neck. Eliot knew it would be different this time. The heat between them was insane. All those years ago it was all slow and gentle. This time it would be neither. This time around they both might get burned. Her hands stroked his chest as her lips caressed his neck.

"Turn back now darlin', before it's too late." Her hands ventured lower. Eliot closed his eyes.

"Seems it might be too late already cowboy." She purred in his ear. The speed in which he grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him neither frightened her or slowed her pace. He had her pushed against the table and her legs were around his waist before he could catch his breath. Kenna was tearing at his clothes and he hers. Someone needed to slow this thing down or it would be over before it started. Not taking her lips from his she cleared the table top and tore his shirt over his head.

"Baby we need to slow down." Eliot said against her lips.

"Next time we can be slow. Right now slow is not an option." Her boots, jeans and flannel shirt were off before Eliot could say another word. No words were exchanged for a very long time.


	8. Chapter 8

The BFF Job

Chapter Eight

The room was dark. The only light in the room was the fire in the fireplace. Sometime during the night one of them had gotten up long enough to light it. The fire danced illuminating the room enough for him to see the bruise on Kenna's stomach. It was yellow and healing. He reached out and gently traced it

"I stopped by the farm to visit my mom last week when I went to see Jodi."

"Your mother did this?" He had seen the way she had handled herself with McClain. There was no way her mother got the jump on her enough to cause the black and blue mark.

"Her newest sperm donor waited till I was leaving and he came around the corner and sucker punched me."

"How did that go over?"

"Let's just say he won't be donating sperm anytime soon." Eliot chucked and pulled her into his arms.

"Kenna Shane Hawks…what am I going to with you." She snuggled into him.

"Anything you want cowboy. Anything you want."

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/

Hardison looked at the screen for the tenth time. Something had to add up sooner or later. Nate handed him an orange soda.

"Anything?"

"A million nothings." The phone rang. "Talk to me Eliot. Tell me you girl remembered something."

"She didn't but I think I may know what's going on."

"Lay it on me."

"Check her blue line." Eliot told him. Hardison looked at Nate. Nate shrugged.

"What the hell is her blue line?"

"She's a nurse. Nurses marry cops but a lot of time they come from cops. Hence her blue line." Hardison typed in a few keys and Sarah McClain's family tree popped up.

"Holy cow!" Hardison shook his head. "Are you seeing this Nate?" He looked at his boss.

"I can't see it." Eliot growled into the phone.

"Oh sorry. Okay so Deputy Chief Spike Deleplant is Sarah's brother. Jackson Mann is her bother in law. She's got a chief of detectives as a father and a head of EMT services for a mother. Various uncles, cousins and what not in the department. This woman has more connections then the subway."

"So it's a wife scorned pulling the strings." Eliot said. "We're heading back in a few hours. I think we need to face this thing head on."

"Eliot this is the NYPD."

"Yeah well this time they messed with the wrong SOB." He hung up. Hardison looked at Nate. Nate looked at the computer screen.

"Find all you can on the whole family. We need to go in there with something." Hardison nodded and Nate went to get himself a drink.

/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

The snow was making it hard to get out of bed. So was the man curled up beside her. He had been her first love all those years ago. Her champion. Her friend. Now he was in her life again and she wasn't sure if he wanted the same things she wanted.

"We should get going." He pulled her close.

"The snow is like six feet deep."

"We have to eat Kenna." She smiled and pulled out a box of cereal from her bag that somehow was next to the bed.

"Parker slipped it in my bag." Eliot laughed.

"Gotta love the crazy chick." He took a hand full of cereal and looked around the room. The place was a disaster. Clothes and bedding everywhere.

"We sure know how to make the most of the honeymoon suite." Kenna said as she munched on the sugar coated breakfast.

"I think I got a line on why the NYPD is messing with you."

"Oh wise one fill me in."

"Sarah."

"Sarah had the NYPD at her beck and call?"

"You said Mann had mentioned Sarah when you told him who you were married to and it got me thinking. Nurses marry cops all the time because they meet when accident victims or DUI's in for treatment."

"So Sarah has family and when they found out about me…"

"They didn't take to kindly to you stepping on Sarah's toes."

"I guess one woman can command an army." He looked at Kenna.

"Nate's working on a way to get her to give up on making your life miserable." She sat up.

"Good. Now let's get the hell out of here and get some real food." Eliot looked at her. "What. I'm starving and apparently Nate has this under control." He shook his head.

"Kenna Shane you are a wonder." She rolled over and kissed him.

"Maybe if you would have realized this a lot sooner…I wouldn't have had to be so rough on you the first…three times." He chuckled. It was at least another full two hours before either of them thought about breakfast again.

/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

"So Sarah's seen you, me and Eliot. That leaves the ladies to pull her in. I can't see any way for either of them to get close to her. She works a twelve hour shift for the next two days then she's off for like a month. I think they might be heading for the hills." Hardison looked at the schedule in front of him.

"Sophie can go in as a patient." Hardison looked at Nate looked at him.

"You do know how much Sophie hates hospitals right? I mean between the two of you death would come before a trip to the ER. We need a different plan."

"We will think of a plan." Nate answered.

"Could you give me some sort of goal to work towards?" Hardison leaned against the counter.

"I'll go in." Parker looked at Nate. Nate looked at Hardison.

"Baby girl remember the last time you went into a hospital?" Hardison looked at her.

"That was rehab. Come on Nate. I can do this. Give me a disease and I can play the part."

"Okay. We'll figure it out as soon as Eliot and Kenna get back." Nate looked at Parker. She had really come out of her shell the last few days. Kenna seemed to have a way with them all. Especially his hitter. He hoped when this was over she would stay close so he didn't have a team depression on his hands.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/

"You want me to drive?" Kenna looked out the window. The snow was at least four feet deep in places.

"You forget I've ridden with you and I still have nightmeres about it." Kenna smiled.

"You said I handled myself okay for a girl."

"For a girl." Eliot looked at her. "How are you doing?"

"Depends why your asking?"

"Kenna…you know last night was…astronomical." She looked out the windshield.

"After all those years, you expected anything less." She didn't even smile.

"You know that's all it can be right?"

"Yeah Eliot, I know. " She said quietly. "I never counted on forever when it came to you." Kicking off her boots she put her feet on the dash and leaned back and closed her eyes.

"You were always the quietest before a fight." He said.

"I don't want to fight. I want to clean up this mess I got myself into and catch the next bus out of town." She turned her head and looked at him. "I promise this is the last time I will call you to save my ass."

"Your ass is worth saving Kenna Shane. Last night proved that." Eliot didn't look at her but he knew the anger and shame were building deep in the pit of her stomach. That's the way it always happened and in all their years apart he knew exactly the way she was feeling. The phone rang before he could break her heart anymore then he already had. "Yeah Nate."

"We got Parker in the hospital."

"If you tell me you got her doctor creds I will beat Hardison to death."

"No. Candy striper. She's helping on Sarah's floor. We got an handle on the way she does things and I think we can get her to open up with a few ques."

"Okay. We're about a half hour out." He looked at Kenna. "What do you want us to do?"

"Meet at the hospital. We will get you up to speed." The tone in Nate's voice made Eliot wonder if he could tell what he and Kenna had been doing for the last ten hours. "You two okay?"

"Considering."

"It'll be okay Eliot. I think Parker might take Sarah down herself if your aren't there to help."

"Yeah crazy girl's gone and gotten herself I new BFF." Nate chuckled.

"You willing to share?" The question surprised Eliot.

"I'll see you at the hospital." He closed the phone and looked over at Kenna who was fast asleep or at least doing a good job of faking it.

/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/

"How long have you been a volunteer?" Sarah McClain asked.

"On and off for years." Parker answered with a small southern drawl. Over the years they all found that accents, especially southern, had a way with making people more comfortable.

"What made you choose Mercy for your volunteer needs?"

"It's not far from the nursing home my mama is in so I can come here and put in some hours before or after visiting her."

"You don't work." The nurse asked.

"Old money. Father set up a trust to take care of mother and well my husband has his own money so I do what I can to keep busy." Parker's warm smile had Sarah hooked.

"What does your husband do?"

"He's third generation Boston Police before he got the E trading bug."

"I come from a long line of police officers and rescue personal myself. My husband is a detective."

"Bet you stay up nights worrying?"

"That and then some. If you're ready and willing I'll show you around." Sarah stood and Parker followed. They were in. Now they needed to set the trap.


	9. Chapter 9

The BFF Job

Chapter Nine

The sun was bright and the snow was starting to melt. Nate knew that this thing was going to come to a head today. They had all they needed. Sarah was on the hook and her NYPD family would soon be making apologies to Kenna and the case would be closed. He watched Eliot as he pulled into the parking lot. He had gotten to know his hitter's moods pretty well over the last couple of years and he could tell Eliot was not a thrilled.

"The big guy looks a little less then ecstatic." Hardison made the same observation.

"I thought some time together would put a smile on his face and love in his heart." Sophie added.

"He looks pissed." Hardison spoke what they were all thinking,

"Let's hope it works to our advantage." Was all Nate said before he left the van and headed to talk to Eliot. He walked to the truck and stood next to the open window. "We wait till Parker gives us the signal and then we hit Sarah's family hard with what we got on them." He looked at Kenna. "You okay?"

"Let's do it." Kenna answered, her eyes behind hidden behind her sunglasses.

"The diner down the street in an hour the whole family will get pages to meet Sarah there and they all can explain themselves."

"If this doesn't work?" Eliot looked at Nate.

"It's going to work Eliot," Nate answered and handed him two ear buds. "Just have her back." Eliot looked at Kenna.

"Always." He started the truck and pulled out leaving Nate standing alone in the lot.

o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o

Parker put the wheels in motion with Sarah. Planting little things in her head here and there that made her think that her decision to make sure they way her husband infidelities had been dealt with were bad choices. Questions were raised. The thief was becoming quite good at undercover work. Eliot and Kenna sat in the corner booth tucked away from prying eyes.

"If you need to go back to the truck I understand." Eliot watched her as she played with the spoon in her coffee mug.

"I'm fine. He's going to pay for this, not me."

"You don't have to face this. I can handle McClain." She smiled a small smile.

"I know you can Eliot. I also know I have to face this head on." Sarah and Parker walked into the diner. The thief led the older woman right to them. "Sarah."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sarah looked at Parker then Kenna.

"I need to talk about Jimmy." Kenna got up and slid next to Eliot and Parker put her hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"You should talk. Tell her how you feel."

"Feel? This woman stole my husband." Kenna looked at Sarah.

"I married a man who I thought I loved and though loved me Sarah. If I had any idea that he was married to someone else I would have never even considered being with him. He was…available day and night. Whenever I called him he answered."

"I've know Kenna a lot of years Sarah and she isn't the kind of woman you made your family think she is." Eliot added. "If you should be mad at anyone it should be Jimmy." The woman was angry. Eliot could feel the tension rising up through her veins. She was an angry woman from way back and she let everyone know.

"She played him for all he was worth. Taking his free time and keeping him away from his kids."

"Sarah I didn't know about you and the kids I swear." The bell over the diner door rang and by the look on Parker's face both Eliot and Kenna knew the rest of Sarah's family including Jimmy were within yards of confrontation. "If I knew Sarah I wouldn't even given him the time of day." The three men involved in Kenna's life falling apart stood behind Sarah.

"Kenna."

"I want you to tell her the truth." She felt Eliot's hand on her thigh. She wasn't sure if it was there to calm her down or give her the courage she needed to get through this. "I just want my life back. Tell them that I didn't know Jimmy." Jimmy was quick but Eliot was quicker. He had the table slid over and Kenna and Parker behind him before Jimmy drew his gun.

"Put that thing away man. Before all you had to do was answer to your wife and your family. This puts a whole different spin on it Jimmy." Eliot said as he backed Kenna and Parker away from the man.

"You got this Eliot?" Nate asked in his ear bud.

"Yeah I got this." He whispered. "Put the gun down." Eliot looked at the other two men. They had picked a side long ago but things weren't looking too good on either side right now. "The only thing you have on your head right now is the super's murder. The rest of it can be forgotten." He felt Kenna's warm hand on the small of his back.

"She was the best thing to happen to me and she had to and mess it up." Sarah turned and looked at her husband. "I had everyone fooled. Even this bitch." He pointed the gun at Sarah.

"Hey shooting someone at this point is only going to get you dead man. I know how you feel Jimmy. Kenna's a sweetheart. But no woman is worth killing for." Eliot knew that was a lie. The two women standing behind him were worth that and more. If it came down to it he'd take McClain down without a second though.

"Jimbo put it down." His brother-in-law stood beside him. Spike Delaplant didn't get where he was by being stupid. He knew his sister and her husband were running out of time. "Just give it up and let the woman get back to her life." The gun was pointed at Sarah now. Eliot knew what Jimmy was going to do before the thought crossed anyone else's mind. His hand flew out and pushed Jimmy's hand up and away from the people standing around him while the other hand, balled into a fist, punched the older man in the stomach. The gun went off and most of the restaurant dived to the floor. Eliot took the gun and flung it toward the two men standing next to him and took Jimmy down to the ground. Jackson Mann never even flinched as he caught the gun and threw Eliot his cuffs. He had always know the man had been bad for his wife's sister but now he had the juice to prove it.

"I'm sorry Kenna." Jackson said as he took Jimmy from Eliot. "Between me and Spike, we'll get this cleaned up." She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt warm hands petting her shoulders as Parker tried to comfort her. Kenna smiled. She was going to miss Parker the most. Not as much as Eliot but pretty a pretty damn close second.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

Kenna looked at the blossoms on the trees in Central Park as she walked. It had been so long since she felt so free. Even married to Jimmy, she felt that stifled feeling she had for so many years living in Kentucky. She hadn't a clue where she was going or what she was going to do but it didn't matter. She was truly free. Jackson Mann had found the file on Simon and done his own investigation. The man's body had washed up on the some shore in Mexico about a month after he had been murdered. They wrote it off as a drug deal gone bad. That's where that stood so she was clear. Simon had hurt more people than anyone could of imagined including Eliot, Jodi and her. She walked to the pond and stood. Kenna felt the presents before he said a word.

"Who knew you could be so quiet Nate." Kenna said as she turned around.

"I'm the only one who doesn't get paid to do things quietly." He looked out at the pond. "Have you figured out what you're going to do?"

"I haven't got a clue." She looked at the older man. "Parker gave me some cereal and coco and told me she would of gotten me some milk to go with it but since I was going to be homeless it would spoil." Nate chuckled.

"That's our Parker."

"Please take care of him for me Nate." She turned back to the pond. "He tends to brood."

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Kenna smiled. "You know you always have a place in Boston."

"I think that's a road best not taken right now. He needs time."

"Time to what? Regret saying the words? Feel like he should of done more?"

"Eliot is the only person who knows everything about me and I know pretty much everything there is to know about him. When we fight Nate…it's like napalm."

"How's the making up?" He asked. She looked at him, shook her head and smiled.

"About the same. He's said it a million times this past week. We're no good for each other."

"I've known Eliot for a few years now and if what I saw this week is not being good for each other I don't know what is. He's open and honest when your around. He isn't afraid to tell people about the things he's kept inside for so long. Those last few years before we started all this nearly killed him and Kenna you're the only one who's made the hell he's exsiled himself in barabel. Think about it. Just give Boston a chance." He turned and hugged the young woman.

"Please take care of him. Him, Jodi and Kyle are all I have left." He pushed her away and nodded.

"Take care of yourself Kenna." She nodded and turned and walked toward the nearest park exit. Nate watched her go. "You should go after her." Nate said out loud, knowing Eliot was listing though his ear bud.

"She's better off without our baggage." He returned.

"You really believe that?"

"I believe she needs a chance to stand on her own two feet." Nate turned and headed to where the rest of the team was waiting to head to the airport.

"Just remember Eliot, she's out there if you need her." Nate took out his ear bud and put it in his pocket. He worried about his team more then he should. He also worried more about his hitter then the others. Bad things had happened to him. Things he wasn't willing to share with him or anyone else. But for a week he had a shoulder to lean on. A person that knew what he had suffered as a child and was willing to listen and not judge about things he'd done as an adult. Eliot Spencer needed McKenna Shane Hawks more then he'd ever know. Someday soon he would see that and his world would be a happier place. SOMEDAY.

THE END 

I hope you liked my first Leverage Piece…I wrote it kinda for myself but please if you enjoyed it please share…Someday might come sooner if you do!


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